By Te’Kyla Miller
Former Green Bay Packer and Founder of The Gilbert Brown Foundation. (Picture by Te’Kyla Miller)`
The Gilbert Brown’s 2019 All-Pro Football Camp has a significant impact on kids and their goals. According to the kids, the camp has been the most active and inspiration they’ve had all summer. Brown and the coaches are pushing these inner-city kids to be the best at football and life.
This camp is free thanks to a partnership between the Gilbert Brown Foundation and the AT&T Wisconsin Pioneers. This year’s free camp was held at North Division High School from July 12-14.
“I keep coming back to this camp because it’s fun,” said a kid at the camp. “Gilbert pushes you to be better and he wants us to be like a professional football player.”
Brown played for the Green Bay Packers for 125 games and was a part of the 1997 Super Bowl team that won the championship. Although he’s originally from Michigan, Brown decided to start a free camp here in Milwaukee for inner-city youth ages between 8 and 17.
The camp has reached its 14th year and since its start, the camp has been conducting workouts with kids to get them in shape for their school year sports and interactions. Most kids learned about the camp from their coaches, churches, social media, radio stations and schools.
Inner-city kids getting ready for another workout. (Picture by Te’Kyla Brown)
Brown wants the kids to have guidance in their lives because he said most don’t. Some kids from this year’s camp said that their favorite part of the camp was being featured on
WISN 12.
“Every little kid I know out here, I know we’re helping them with a change, and I feel like for all the kids that cross this gate, I’m a champion for helping them,” said Brown.
The coaches want the kids to leave the camp as the best players they can be and to continue to use what they’ve been taught.
The Gilbert Foundation is raising money for charities like the Make-A-Wish Foundation and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The foundation helps fund school scholarships programs and provides gas cards for kids with cancer so that they are able to get necessary medical care. The foundation also makes donations to area churches, including providing meals for those in need.
To find out more about the Gilbert Foundation, visit https://gilbertbrownfoundation.org/.